I love to shop local quilt stores and keep the money in my area. I have worked at a quilt store and have expectations of how customers should be treated. There is a local quilt store near me that I have had 1 good experience and 3 that have turned me off. I will not be going back there after my experience last week.
So my question to you...is there a local quilt store that does something you do not like? How do you deal with this?
Note: PLEASE do not call out shops directly. I don't want to call people out because that does none of us any good. Just an opportunity to vent.
6 comments:
When I first started quilting 3 years ago, I dealt with a very rude employee at my LQS. I didn't go back for a long time. All of my experiences since then have been great! I very happy with the current staff.
Oh boy, has there. I gave our LQS two shots. The first time we were solidly ignored, and I didn't go back for a year. I finally decided to give them another shot.
They offer longarm classes, and I was interested in taking one. When I asked when their classes were, the employee (owner?) said, I kid you not, "It's a secret." She was serious. No, she wasn't joking as I'd assumed at first. She literally wouldn't tell me and wouldn't give me a schedule.
If I hadn't had a friend along as a witness, no one would ever have believed me. I thought my friend was going to have a stroke, she got so mad.
I was caught completely flat footed at being treated so poorly by someone I'd been nothing but polite to. I'm just not good on my feet in that kind of situation. So we left, and haven't been back.
Since you asked...The first time I visited our LQS a lady was quilting on a long-arm machine. I wanted to watch (just interested) but she stopped and walked away. Maybe it made her nervous? Next- it's a very small store and she followed me around, up and down very narrow rows. I left quickly without buying anything.
About a year later, during a shophop, they were very friendly. I hope it was just the one employee that didn't know how to treat customers.
In the Uk we don't have the abundance of quilt stores yo have in the US. There aren't many fabric stores either.
I've been pretty lucky, most of the LQS's we have around here are pretty great. There is one that tears fabric when you're getting yardage, instead of cutting it - and yes, I know this gives me a more true "square" weave for my fabric, but I always wind up having to trim off at least an inch because it's so shabby and shreddy. Other than that, the only other complaint I've ever had is one LQS that smelled like a litter box. Went there once during shop hop, and I'll never go back. ick.
Thanks everyone for your feedback. Glad I am not the only one. I do have a few shops that I really love.
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